Posters calling for the killing of Indian diplomats at a Gurdwara in Canada’s Surrey have been taken down after local authorities intervened amid Ottawa’s plummeting ties with India over allegations of New Delhi’s involvement in the murder of a Khalistani terrorist earlier this year.
According to sources, the Surrey Gurdwara was asked to remove the posters calling for the killing of three Indian diplomats after authorities realised the magnitude of the issue and the optics of such messaging originating from the Canadian soil.
The Gurdwara has also been cautioned not to use loudspeakers for any radical announcements.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, 45, the chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF) and one of India’s most-wanted terrorists who carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head, was shot dead by two unidentified gunmen outside a Gurdwara in Surrey in the western Canadian province of British Columbia on June 18.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday alleged the involvement of “agents of the Indian government” in the killing. New Delhi outrightly rejected the claims as “absurd” and “motivated” and expelled a senior Canadian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move to Ottawa’s expulsion of an Indian official over the case.
On Thursday, India asked Canada to come down hard on terrorists and anti-India elements operating from its soil and suspended visa services for Canadians, as escalating tensions between the two nations over the killing of Nijjar pushed ties to an all-time low.
India also asked Canada to downsize its diplomatic staff in the country, arguing that there should be parity in strength and rank equivalence in the mutual diplomatic presence. The size of Canadian diplomatic staff in India is larger than what New Delhi has in Canada.